The Suitcase of Courage

Motivation Monday:Need Some Motivation

I'm not asking you - as in "Need Some Motivation?" - cuz you ain't gonna get any here, unfortunately.  I can't give what I don't have.

I'm telling you - as in "I Need Some Motivation."

I have my last race of the season two weeks from today - the Jamestown Classic Road Race - and for some reason, over the last couple of weeks, my motivation has tanked.  Actually, it's more like a black hole of motivation - sucking all surrounding motivation into its vortex.

Beware.  You've been warned.

What do you do to motivate yourself to ride this time of year?  I know - many of you race 'cross and that gets you through.  Don't tell me.  I'm not doing 'cross.  At least not now.

One encouraging sign on the horizon is mountain biking.  I'm building up my old Parkpre, full rigid MTB from 1996.  But it's not done yet - I still need some parts for it.

And that won't help me between now and Columbus Day.

So send me a comment letting me know what you do to get yourself out on the bike - or at least on the trainer - after the inevitable post-road season burnout hits you.  Hopefully together, we can keep each other going a bit longer . . .

Signs of the Season:Final Race at the Rent

The signs are out there already - signs that the summer of 2009 is drawing to a close.  There are many harbingers of the season's end - Back to School sales, school buses on the roads, vacation spots becoming just a little less busy.  While last week the heat & humidity was oppressive - as it has been all month - yesterday and this morning dawned clear and cool.  Almost crisp compared to recent days.  And last night's group ride was illuminated by just a touch of that distinctive Autumn light, all clear blue sky and orange sun.

But for local bike racers, one of the first of those signs is the last Rentschler Field crit which I raced this past Tuesday.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, this weekly event is a summertime staple and, despite a nasty crash there a couple of weeks ago, it's one of the safest, most fun races around.  I've been fond of this race ever since it was my first race ever, "way back" in May of 2006.

So the last Rent' race of the season always has a strange mix of anticipation and sadness.  You're excited about racing - even if only one more time - but you know that the end of the road racing season is near.

Unfortunately, my first year racing in the same category with friend SDC ended with that nasty crash and I started this last race without him joining me at the line.  It was my first time racing the Rent' since then, and I wanted to do well.  Especially since Mr. & Mrs. SDC came out to watch and I wanted to be sure I had some exploits to discuss over dinner afterwards.

Unlike previous weeks, I got to the track after the "B" race had already started.  After a cursory (for me) warmup, and the "B" race finished, we lined up.  While waiting for the start, we noticed a "walking wounded" lineup off to the side: Teammate Max, who broke his leg in the Hartford Crit back in May was there on his crutches, and SDC was there in his wheelchair.  Not a great advertisement for the safety of bike racing!  I guess I'll have to add another sign of the season's end: the growing number of casualties.

So we start off, my main goal - especially after racing my weaknesses - being to stay sheltered in the pack and see what I had for the end.  But I think I've finally learned that the "A" races seldom come down to a field sprint.  If you want to have any chance at placing, you need to be in the break.  And there is almost always a break.

I resisted the temptation to go with any early moves, but did what I could to cover attacks whenever a teammate was up the road.  But about halfway through the race, I noticed there was a four man break and none of our guys were in it.  My other teammates had all given it a go, being included in earlier attempts, so I figured it was my turn to try.

Shortly after corner 3, I attacked and sprinted for all I was worth to try and bridge.  I flew through the start/finish and finally caught the break on the back side of the track.  That effort took a LOT out of me, but I didn't miss any pulls and tried to do my share of the work.

Considering the company I was in, I should have sat in a little.  It was a very hard break, the pace being so high.  But it was the break that stuck.  Working together, we built up over a 1/2 lap lead on the rest of the pack.

But I was fading.  Each turn at the front was more difficult and each time I peeled off, I had a hard time catching back on.  I had no idea what my heartrate was, since my Garmin had died before the race.  I had no data, but I knew I was hurting.  And my CatEye told me how many minutes I had left before the lap cards would give me a sign that my suffering would soon end.  I just tried to hang on as long as I could.

"As long as I could" however, came soon enough.  The rest of the guys had probably noticed that my pulls were getting shorter.  And once another CCNS guy bridged up and joined us (a remarkable feat in its own right), the pace went up again.  That alone wouldn't have been so bad, but for some reason the guy in front of me took a monster pull right after that, dragging the rest of us around for almost a full lap(?!!).  I thought he was just trying to ride us off his wheel, he was that strong and I had a hard time holding his wheel.  When he pulled off, I gave it about 10 strokes before the rest of the guys started going by me.  I though "great, they're giving me a break by pulling through early."  Not.  By the time the last guy in the line was past me, the pace was just too high.  I couldn't catch back on.

Game over.

I languished in no man's land for a couple of laps, looking heroic (to me) or foolish (to the experienced racers watching), but I finally got the bright idea to just sit up and let the pack catch me.

Once back in the pack, I struggled for a couple of laps to not get dropped again.  But fortunately, I recovered enough to at least sit in until the end.  The break I was in had almost lapped the field by that point.  All the placings were in it, so there was nothing left for the peleton to contest.

But I sprinted anyway, just because I had just enough left to - and because I wanted the last crit to end with a bang rather than a wimper.

It was just too bad that the "bang" was more from my total explosion earlier, rather than a winning sprint.

No matter.  There was one last Tuesday night tradition to perform that I was already looking forward to, the race quickly fading into memory: Dinner afterwards.  As the 2009 racing season winds down, I sometimes wonder which I'll miss more during the off-season - the races, or the after-race get togethers. 

Fortunately, racing or not, we'll still be able to get together.  The conversation will just evolve from discussing the race we just did, to planning the races we're going to do next year.  Or we may not talk about racing at all.  The friends you make when racing often become friends off the track too and it's nice to explore other interests during the off-season.

But all this talk of the off-season is - fortunately - a little premature.  The signs of the season may be starting to pop up here and there, but there's still racing to do and wonderful Autumn rides to look forward to.  The Three Village Tour is tomorrow and I'm planning on racing the Masters 35+ race - but not if a hurricane tropical storm hits us as predicted.  I already have two strikes against me: "Masters" and "Road Race."  The bad weather is strike three.  So we'll see.

And of course there's the Jamestown Classic to look forward to on Columbus Day.  I've only done that race once before, at the end of my first year racing.  I'm really looking forward to doing it again - and the inevitable stretching of the season that a Columbus Day road race requires.

Other than that, there are fun rides coming up in September.  Remember fun rides?  In the midst of all the focused training and racing, it's easy to forget how wonderful it can be to just ride your bike through the countryside on a clear-blue-sky day.  You don't have to worry about heart rate monitors or power meters.  And your only thought about proper hydration is more about drinking in the scenery, rather than downing bottles of Gatorade.

So whatever your plans over the next weeks & months, let the signs of the season motivate you to try a few more of the many ways you can enjoy your bike.  Hopefully you too will discover, as I have, that you can stretch the season as long as you want and those signs don't indicate an ending, but an invitation.

Sunday Morning Ride

This morning's ride was a lot different than last week's, for a few reasons.

Last week when I woke up, it was sunny and felt like July.  The forecast was for temps in the 80s, and I'd be riding with a large group of Cannibals.

This morning, it was cloudy and cool.  It felt more like March than May and the forecast was for rain.  I'd be riding alone.

Though I had my alarm set for the usual workday time, I woke up a few minutes before it sounded.  For only a few hours sleep, I was surprised that I was so awake.  I got out of bed, gave the kitties some water, brushed my teeth, checked the roads - they were dry.

And then I got back into bed.

I had everything I needed to get out and ride, except for that crucial, all-too-often-elusive ingredient:

Motivation

Anybody seeing me laying there in my warm bed, watching the minutes tick by on the clock, would be totally unaware of the struggle happening within the mind within the cozy covers.

"There's no race coming up anytime soon." "I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately & need rest." "But I've only been on my bike once this week and don't want to lose fitness." "I can ride this afternoon - but it's supposed to rain."

I've always regretted not getting up for a planned morning ride - especially when events (weather, chores) conspire to keep me off the bike later on in the day - and another day goes by...

And I've never regretted actually going out for the ride.  Sure, I may regret the first few cold miles, but I always come back feeling better.

So I got back out of bed.

I'm glad I did.  I knew I would be.  Once I got on the road and heard the quiet humming of the tires, the whirring of the gears and the whistling of the breeze, I remembered all the things I like about early morning rides (despite being the antithesis of a "morning person").

And, as you can see, I even got to see a little bit of sun.  It was especially beautiful along the water, which added the crashing of the waves to the smorgasbord of sound I was already enjoying.

I even had time to extend my usual training loop by another 7 miles, riding up along the Connecticut River north of Essex - where I found this little tributary.  Sorry for the poor quality phone pics; I really need to start carrying my camera.

It was a nice, quiet - albeit chilly - ride.  And it was a good thing I "won" (lost?) that internal struggle.  As I type this - during the time I'd normally be riding today - it's raining and nasty.  I can nap now with the satisfaction that comes from ride-tired legs.

So the next time you're engaging in that internal debate with yourself whether to ride or not, if at all possible, just go and ride.  I bet, like me, you'll be glad you did.

Why Race Wednesday& 10,000 Miles

"I am flooded with dread before every single event, as I walk around muttering, 'Why do I race? Why do I put myself through this? I hate this. I'm not going to do this anymore. This is it.' Then I get to the venue and am immediately sucked into the excitement of the event at hand. Once the race is on, I'm almost 100 percent happy. Don't get me wrong, I have my rough spots and I certainly suffer along the way. But there's no place where my mind is as quiet and I feel so 'in the zone' to dish out a trite, overused phrase as I do when in the midst of a race. The outcome is secondary--it's the actual event I love. In the end, that's why I race." -snipped from here.

My thoughts exactly.  I couldn't have said it better myself.

If you need more race perspective (as in, putting it in proper perspective for us amateurs), check out this article from The Everyday Athlete.

And if the thrill of racing isn't enough to get out and ride, there's always the joy of seeing your odometer change over . . .

from this . . .

 

to this . . .

 

I got this CatEye when I got my bike back in August 2005.  Once I got my indoor trainer the odometer function became less accurate (since the sensor is on the front wheel), but this mileage includes miles on the rollers as well as on the road.  This milestone passed under my tires during my last 50 mile ride.

Regardless of the actual number of miles it represents, the fact is that I've done at least 10,000 miles on my bike.  And it's pretty cool to see it (even if it means losing my tenths-of-a-mile).

Why Cycle Wednesday:The Perfect Venue

"[S]eek out a beautiful, inspiring workout venue; if you must drive to a striking spot that has less vehicular traffic, do it.  Remember that what you associate with cycling will determine how fast you ride and whether exercise becomes a permanent part of your life; where you choose to ride exerts great influence, as well." -Eric Harr, Ride Fast

This week's WCW will be a quickie.  I haven't been able to get out much lately to take inspiring pics.  And this time of year, especially now that the snow's melted, there's not much to shoot anyway.  The above shot is from my normal training route, taken last autumn.

Nevertheless, beauty being in the eye of the beholder, you can still find great places to ride despite the weather.  You don't even have to know where to look, because some of the prettiest places can't be seen.  They are where your mind goes as you lose yourself in a reverie of pedals churning and wheels whirring.

Motivation Monday:Bike Test Motivation

(This is the first installment in what I hope will become a fairly regular weekly feature along with Why Cycle Wednesday and Cycling Fun Friday.  That is, of course, if I can get enough motivation . . .)

Last week, I had to do the second of two "bike tests. " These are basically 3 mile time trials, done at my threshold HR.  The 7-week training program I'm using has you do three such tests - one at the beginning to establish your baseline, one 4 weeks in, and at the end of the program.

These aren't so bad on the road.  But as mentioned in my previous post, I don't wanna get my racing bike all mucked up with all the sand and salt out there.  So I do these tests on the trainer instead.

Actually, using the trainer is probably better since the environment is much easier to control - fewer variables.  Variables such as road condition, topography, weather and especially wind direction would make these tests less comparable.  The only thing that varies on the trainer is your will and motivation to keep pedaling at threshold while getting absolutely nowhere.

The first test wasn't so difficult.  You don't have much at stake in setting a baseline.  It is what it is.  You've got nothing to lose so you just do it.

For the second test, after you've been doing a month's worth of training, you want something to show for it.  But "progress" is not always a sufficient motivator.  To be sure I could keep my heartrate up and my legs turning the pedals for the time/effort required, I needed something else.

Here are a couple things I use to provide much-needed motivation:

• Hard, Fast Rock Music

This is a standard staple of hard workouts.  The more pumpin', loud and adrenaline-boosting the better.  My personal faves: "Keep Hope Alive" by the Crystal Method, "Lost Control" by Unwritten Law, "Artist in the Ambulance" by Thrice, "Get Free" by The Vines.  Selections from Three Doors Down and Billy Idol figure prominently as well.

If it gets your heartrate up just sitting on the couch, it's a good bet that it'll help you keep going on the trainer.

• Race Videos

Usually used for long trainer rides, race videos aren't an obvious choice for threshold tests.  Maybe a Time Trial (provided it's accompanied by a killer soundtrack - not Paul & Phil, much as I love'em).  One of the best is this one.  I've posted about it before, but if you haven't seen it you must check it out.  Its only drawback is that it starts out a little on the slow side, but it's long enough for the entire effort and it's free.  Best of all, the second half has "Keep Hope Alive" as the soundtrack.

As much as I enjoy that video though, nothing beats Sprinter Della Casa's helmetcam race videos ("Video Bar" right hand side of his blog), especially for those lucky enough to race the Bethel Spring Series of crits in southwestern CT.  There is nothing else like (virtually) racing in the pack - against racers you recognize - and SDC's post-production is key, keeping the clips nice, tight and action-packed.  An added bonus is that the soundtrack could stand on its own.  The fact that it accompanies such great footage is a bonus.

• Contemplative Silent Meditation to Feel the Burn, to BE the Burn

You have to be really committed to use this one.  I mean really, you have to be committed - like "hugging jacket" committed.  But if this is your cup o' tea, then far be it from me to interrupt your solitude in the pain cave.  Just don't expect me to join you.

There are other motivators (like not wanting to get TOTALLY shelled in your next race, or - er - losing your pre-race nutrition trying), but these are the ones that come to mind first.  Others that occur to me will be the subject of future Motivation Mondays.  ANYthing to keep us going!

What are your motivators?

Why Cycle Wednesday:Racing

 

It's snowing today and it's the depths of winter in January.  Racing season - even the Spring Classics - seems far off in the future.  So what makes us get kitted up to go out and ride in the cold, or (some would say worse) slog down to the basement to get on the trainer?

For many of us, it's so we can at least make it to the finish line in the races we expect to do this season.  And for some of us, it's so - having made it with the front group - we have a chance at the win.

The photo above is from my 5th race ever - the 2006 New Britain crit.  I posted about this race in detail here (and, yes, today's WCW borrows slightly), but suffice it to say that I was #401 in the photo finish above - 4th out of four, by the smallest of margins.

But I was there at the end.  All the training, slogging, sweating and gasping for air on the trainer during the winter - and on freezing cold rides - paid off.  Those were the deposits I made to draw on in the summer.

While the theme of Why Cycle Wednesday is usually more laid back & casual (click here for an example), sometimes, especially during the darkest days of the off-season, it's good to remind ourselves of the *other* reasons why we ride.

And hopefully, for those of you who are thinking about trying out racing for the first time this year, this post will give you just a little extra motivation to make your own investments in your fitness and take that plunge when the racing season starts in the spring.

----------------------

If you're considering racing, check out my "Bike Racing 101" category (right column) for some helpful info.  The first post "The Basics" should get you started.  If you like what you see - or have suggestions on things that could be added - leave a comment and let me know.

Record Week

Right up front, a BIG THANK YOU for all the birthday wishes.  Turning 40 isn't so bad when you have such great family and friends to share it with.  I'll be sharing some of the cool things I got in my next post - but I gotta get the pics.  So stay tuned!

In the meantime, just wanted to document what has to be my biggest miles/week this time of year EVER.

177.15 miles!

That's right up there in the top five for the YEAR.  The last time I rode that much in a week was way back in the summer.

Of course, my 4000 mile goal had a lot (ok, everything) to do with me getting so many miles in early in the week.  But then I kicked in the new year with a 60 mile ride with friends SDC & Hobgoblin yesterday.  Well, *I* did 60 miles - it was only supposed to be a 50 mile ride.  See if you can see where I made the wrong turn:

 

I realized too late that the breakaway group I was with was ALL going back to where THEY started the ride up on I-84.  Unfortunately, where *I* started - and needed to return to - was Bethel Cycle.  Ooops!

But it was a beautiful ride down to the shore and back, along beautiful backroads, alongside lakes and through pretty countryside.  Only problem was it was all UPhill coming back.  And my little - ahem - "shortcut" didn't help any.  Here's the profile:

 

But Hob and DorothyW were wonderful hosts and had lots of great pizza waiting for me when I finally trudged back in.

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful birthday weekend and a banner week of riding!

24 Miles

In the end, that's all it took.

I was 24 miles away from my goal of 4000 miles in 2008 and it was snowing like crazy.  And I was at work, an hour away from home on a good day.  And Mrs. Suitcase and I had dinner plans for New Year's Eve.

How was I going to get those last 24 miles in?  I had visions of hitting the trainer after dinner, watching the ball drop and trying to beat it.  Now THAT would have been a dramatic ending, eh?

When you think of how much you ride over the course of a year, you realize how miniscule 24 miles is.  It's a short group ride - a quick ride around your training loop.  No big deal.

Unless you have to shoehorn it in within the last few hours of the year.

Fortunately, for a number of reasons, I was able to get out of work early.  And - despite how awful the roads were - I got home in under 90 minutes.

I went straight to the trainer.

And I started pedaling.

Despite having just set a PR on the trainer the previous day, it was the longest 24 miles I'd ever put in.  Note the snowing outside.  I even took a couple breaks "along the way."  I had video.  I had iPod.  Anything to get me through.

But I did it!

I rode a total of 4000 miles in a single year.  Check out my "2008 Totals" (left column).

And here's more proof:

It's all the more impressive (to me anyway) when I remember that I accomplished this despite not riding but a few times since mid-October.  Here's how 2008 looks - mileswise:

 

You can see the big gap in Nov/Dec and the dearth in October.  Heck, I didn't even lay off THAT much when I broke my collarbone back on Memorial Day weekend!

I'm glad I accomplished my goal, but I think it'd be a bigger deal if I'd set out on Jan. 1, 2008 with 4000 miles in mind.  As I mentioned a few posts ago, I kind of backed into this goal when I saw how close I was.  And I needed some motivation to ride.

And goals create motivation.  You can see the effect in the bar chart.  There's no other way I would have ramped up like that otherwise.

Any coach will tell you this isn't exactly the way you should get miles in after a layoff.  You should ramp up slowly - not jump right in to consecutive days of riding long-ish miles.

Well, I start my "normal" training program today - and it'll only include about 10 miles of actual riding.  THAT'S going to feel like nothing.  And will provide a more traditional ramp-up.

So, how does 4000 miles in a year compare to other years?  I'm glad you asked.

I first started serious cycling after I got my road bike in August of 2005, but I didn't start recording ride data until the start of 2006 - my first year racing.  Actually, my 2006 data starts on March 11 - my first ride on the road that year.

So from 3/11/2006 - 12/31/2006 I rode 3563.5 miles.

I started recording data on the computer when I got my Garmin - just in time for my first organized century on Sept. 6, 2006.  The chart above shows how my Fall 2006 looked.  Much more impressive than the last couple of years.

In 2007, I rode 3640.64 miles.

Little drop in July due to our move, and a BIG gap in the fall last year -  mostly due to Charlie's death and zero motivation afterwards.  But note how close the two totals from 2006 and 2007 are, without even trying.  Less than 100 miles apart. Weird.

So it looks like I got in a record number of miles this year(?!)  Who knew?  I thought for sure my Fall layoff would have tanked my miles.  It certainly didn't help, but it looks like the massive number of miles I put in last winter and spring, not to mention all the riding during the racing season - despite injury - laid a sufficient base for the new PR.

It being the time for New Year's Resolutions, I resolve here and now to hit 5000 miles in 2009!

It also being the time for retrospectives and goals, stay tuned for a look back at my personal highlights for 2008 - and some new goals for 2009.

Happy New Year!

Record Indoor Trainer Ride

Every time I'm asked what I do for winter riding, the conversation goes something like this:

Interested Person: "So, what do you do for winter riding?  Indoors or out?"

Me: "I usually ride the indoor trainer.  I don't like the super cold, the ice and sand are dangerous, the salt and slush are messy."

IP: "Oh, I can't STAND to ride the trainer!  Don't you find it hard to stay motivated or to ride as long as you need to?"

Me (smugly): "I've never had a problem with it."

Of course, I never mention that I seldom ride the trainer for much more than an hour.  For that amount of time, some music on the iPod, or a cycling podcast, will get me through no problem.

I planned on riding outdoors today.  In fact, some folks were getting together a rare weekday afternoon group ride so it was going to be ideal.  Then the winds came.  Gale force winds.  Group ride got called off.

So I figured - "no problem, I can ride indoors."  Problem was that to keep moving toward my goal of 4000 miles by midnight tomorrow night, I figured I'd have to ride at LEAST 25 miles.  I've got about 50 miles left to go.  And tomorrow it's supposed to snow.

I've never ridden that "far" on a trainer before, but I figured how hard could it be?  Taking a page from SDC's book, I set myself up nice with laptop/DVD and some movies.  Thus:

 

I ingeniously set up two chairs back to back with a shelf on top to make the cool laptop/DVD/misc holder you see here.  Otherwise, it's my standard trainer setup (fan's under the shelf).

Mrs. Suitcase and I got partway through Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion before she bailed out.  So I figured I'd finish that up and watch another movie.

After settling in, I got a good groove going.  My legs started to burn a little and my butt started to hurt a lot (it actually hadn't yet recovered from yesterday's fun).

I was only 20 minutes in.

Uh oh.

What a drag.  I don't know how ANYBODY could ride a trainer for over an hour!  I've heard of marathon sessions of 3 and 4 hours(?!)  You gotta be KIDDING me!  How do you keep your brain from going numb, if every other part of you hasn't already?

I got through it though and I was MORE than ready to peel myself off the saddle when my second show was over.  I'd gone 2 hours and 11 minutes and did over 31 miles.  YIPEE!!

Now I gotta do it again tomorrow.  Ugh!  And if the snow keeps me from getting home from work at a decent time, guess who's going to be on the trainer watching the ball drop?